SoftBank’s Son poised for another IPO windfall

Son (pic) started last year under a cloud after the meltdown at WeWork, then saw his shares plunge with the coronavirus pandemic and a loss of almost US$18bil at SoftBank’s Vision Fund.

TOKYO: SoftBank Group Corp is preparing to take at least six more of its portfolio companies public this year, building on a 2020 turnaround that pushed the value of Masayoshi Son’s (pic) technology conglomerate to the highest since the dot-com boom.

Among the startups heading for initial public offerings (IPOs) are South Korean e-commerce pioneer Coupang Corp, Indonesian online mall operator PT Tokopedia and China’s ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, according to people familiar with the matter, asking not to be named because the matter is private. The IPOs could give Son another round of enormous gains after successful offerings from DoorDash Inc and KE Holdings Inc in 2020.